New plan will delay finish of Z Bridge project; Work won't be completed by Labor Day

The State Department of Transportation closed northbound lanes of the Zilwaukee Bridge on Interstate 75 in February to replace aging, 3-foot diameter bearings.

Now, months after workers inadvertently cut through reinforcing steel and prolonged a detour around the span using northbound Interstate 675, officials are putting off replacing any bearings, said Louis Taylor, delivery engineer for MDOT.

The news comes after an announcement earlier this week that the 1.5-mile bridge will not reopen in time for Labor Day, affecting tens of thousands of travelers and some area businesses.

The span's first set of bearings are at their expected lifespan of 20 to 25 years.

"The old bearings are in need of replacement, but that doesn't mean they are failed," Taylor said. "We believe they will last until 2012-13," when crews have scheduled the next major bridge work.

Taylor said that engineers could modify and reuse the 34 bearings manufactured for this project then.

In 2007, 66,000 vehicles traversed the northbound span over the three-day Labor Day holiday.

Rick Dubay, manager of Wendy's at the Flying J Travel Plaza, 3475 E. Washington in Buena Vista Township, described business as slower than average all summer. Wendy's now closes at 12 a.m., a change from 3 a.m., because of slow sales, he said.

"We get 90 percent of our business off of that," he said, pointing out the restaurant's windows to I-75. "Since they closed the bridge, we're running about 9 percent down."

Johanne M. Luth of Essexville opened a McDonalds franchise at the M-81 Express Stop in December. The bridge's closure was an unwelcome surprise.

"Heck no, it isn't what I expected," she said. "The timing couldn't be worse for a new business."

The three enterprises are off I-75's Exit 151, one mile past the Interstate 675 detour which diverts potential northbound customers four miles to the west around the bridge - and their businesses.

The Transportation Department awarded Midwest Bridge Co. of Williamston a $3.3 million contract for the routine replacement of the bridge's bearings in February. Work on the northbound span was to wrap up in late March. Crews would then switch to the southbound side.

But workers cut through reinforcing steel within the bridge at the first joint, which blueprints did not show, Taylor said.

"At the first joint, we realized that things weren't the way they were supposed to be," he said.

The new plan: Fix one bridge joint on the northbound side.

Meanwhile, MDOT will step up inspections on the bridge's two spans to every year from every other year, Taylor said.

The northbound span opened in December 1987, with the southbound side following ten months later. Some bridge work began as early as 1979.

After the error, crews suspended work, and the Transportation Department consulted with several engineers to determine the best fix.

Midwest Bridge workers will anchor a 40-foot section of the northbound span with an external, L-shaped "chin strap" system, Taylor said. The section is high above land between M-13 and the Saginaw River.

"It will be as strong or stronger than before," he said, adding the external system is designed as a permanent fix.

Making and installing the external bracing system will take five to nine more weeks, said Anita Richardson, Bay Region communications representative for MDOT.

Officials said they couldn't provide an updated cost for the now five-month-long project "until we reopen the bridge," Richardson said.

She anticipates drivers will use a crossover system during the Labor Day holiday, as they did for the Fourth of July. Northbound Interstate 75 traffic crossed over to the southbound lanes, while southbound motorists took the I-675 detour.